Cooling apparatus



"Jul 20, 1943;

H. K. JOHNSON COOLING APPARATUS Filed June 50 v1941 Patented July 20,1943 UNITED STATES. PATENT orgies COOLING APPARATUS Herman K. Johnson,Grand Haven, Mich. Application June so, 1941, Serial No. 400,455

7 Claims.

This invention relates to cooling apparatus and more particularly tocooling systems for use in dispensing cold drinks, ice cream,confections, and the like.

' One of the objects of the invention is the provision of a new andimproved cooling system for cooling and maintaining in a chilled or coolcondition in one section of the cabinet a plurality of diflerent potableliquids and a number of jars containing syrup or flavoring used invarious soft drinks and confections and maintaining in another section,ata lower temperature, different types of congealed foods andconfections.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a new and improvedarrangement .of the various refrigerating or cooling coils employed inconnection with the various cooling chambers provision of a new andimproved cooling unit comprising an assembly of tubular members soarrangedas to have a high efficiency of heat transference and soconstructed that should any of the tubes of the assembly burst or springa leak for any reason whatever, the escape of the liquid or gas thereinwill not mingle with the liquid or gas contained in any of the othertubes.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a new and improvedcooling apparatus that is simple in construction, comparativelyinexpensive to manufacture, eflicient in operation and that is notlikely to become disruptedor broken in use and that may be readily andinexpensively installed. v

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will appearfrom the following description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing in which- Fig. l is a vertical section of a coolingcabinet showing the invention in position therein;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view of the apparatus; Fig. 3 is a sideelevation of the cooling and dis p'ensing coils, with parts broken awayand parts in section; and

' Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

In apparatuses forcooling potable liquids and extracts or flavoringliquids, it is common practice to provide separate cooling means for thetwotypes of liquids or a heat exchange liquid such asv brine is'employedas a cooling medium. These systems are objectionable because theapparatus required is more or less complicated and if brine be used, itis further objectionable because of the deteriorating effect of thebrine on the metallic parts. It has been proposed to pass the potableliquid tubes through the expansion coils for cooling the liquid but thistoo is not entirely satisfactory forshould the liquid escape from thetubes into the refrigerant for any cause whatever, it would seriouslyinterfere with the operation of the device and would injure therefrigerant. I

The present invention seeks to remedy these difficulti'es by theprovision of a simple cooling unit that will not only properly cool thepotable liquids but may also function as an effective means for coolingthe compartment containing the receptacles for the flavoring extracts. 7

Referring now to the drawing, the reference character I0 designates acooling or refrigerating counter, fountain or cabinet which is providedwith, what for convenience of description will be termed, an upper orcooling compartment II and a lower or refrigerating compartment I2;Extending upwardly from the upper compartment are a plurality ofdispensing or draft arms l3, ll,

each having valves H0 and I40 for dispensing potable liquids, as willpresently appear. As shown in Figs. 1 and '2, only two draft arms areillustrated but it is understood that the apparatus may contain anynumber of draft arms, each draft arm being supplied by a differentcooling coil, as will presently appear.

The upper compartment H is provided with suitable insulation and has anupper inclined wall It having an elongated slot therethrough forreceiving a plurality of receptacles such as the syrup or flavoring jarsH, as is usual in such constructions. The jars I! are adapted to beremoved from the compartment I l for cleanstructions.

Since the arrangement of the containers in the compartments is'more orless conventional, it is not thought necessary to describe thesamefurther in detail.

Suitable means arepro ided for cooling both compartments andformaintaining the upper or cooling chamber or compartment II at ahigher temperature than that maintained in the refrigerating orhardening compartment l2. The compartment II is maintained at atemperature slightly above that of freezing by means of an expansioncoil I9 that extends from one end of the cabinet to the other throughthis compartment l5, as shown more clearly in Fig. 1 of the drawing. Thecoil I9 is preferably, though not necessarily, in the form of a helical,each turn' being oblong in cross-section with an inner and an outer flatside, as shown in Fig. 3. The coils are closely wound so as to form acontinuous heat exchange sleeve. the turns of which are of uniform innerand outer diameters. A plurality of cooling coils 2| and 22 are providedand they are in the form of a single helical; that is, they areintercoiled, and are so wound that a single sleeve is provided and thissleeve is within the outer helical l9 and in contact therewiththroughout its entire length, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing. Wherethere are only two tubes or cooling coils, as 2| and 22, the turns willalternate, as shown in said figure. There are as many cooling coils asdraft arms and the entire number is arranged in like manner. If thereare three different liquids to be dispensed at the dispensing counter,then every third 'turn will be the same tube or coil.

One of the tubes or pipes, as 2|, may be employed for conveying drinkingor sweet water to the dispensing valve I40 and the other pipe, as 22,may be used to conduct carbonated water to the corresponding draft arml3 and dispensing valve I30.

It will be thus seen that with this arrangement, the coils 2| and 22 arecooled by contacting the inner peripheral surfaces of the expansion coill9 andthat the outer peripheral surfaces of the turns of this coil l3absorb heat from the compartment thereby maintaining the compartment ata low temperature for cooling the Jars or containers l1.

The refrigerating or hardening chamber I2 is adapted to have positionedtherein a refrigcrating or hardening coil 23 showndiagrammatically inFig. 2, for maintaining the containers l8 below the freezing point formaintaining ice cream and other confections within these containers infrozen condition.

A diagram for the cooling and refrigerating coils is shown in Fig. 2 andin this figure, a refrlgerant conduit 24 conducts the refrigerant fromthe compressor-condenser, not shown, to the coils l9 and 23 in multiple.The conduit 24 conducts the refrigerant to the cooling coil l9 and has abranch conduit 30 for conducting a portion of the refrigerant in theconduit 24 to the refrigerating or hardening coil 23. A manuallyoperated valve 40 is preferably provided in the conduit 24 between thetwo expansion coils l9 and 23 for controlling the amount of refrigerantflowing along the conduit 24 beyond the conduit 30. This valve may beclosed when, for

any reason, it is not desired to operate the expansion coil IS. Athermally controlled expansion valve 25 is provided for automaticallyadmitting refrigerant to the coil 23 for maintaining the containers I8at a predetermined temperature. A thermostat device 26 responsive to thetemperature within the lower or refrigerating section or, in heatexchange relation with the chambers I2, is provided forautomaticallycontrolling the operation of the valve 25. The

remaining portion of the refrigerant flowing along the pipe 24 isadmitted to the cooling coil l9, Fig. 2, through a thermally controlledexpansion valve 21. The expansion valve 21 is con- 6 trolled by asuitable thermostat arrangement 28 which may be of the usual or any wellknown construction. The thermostat device 28 is responsive to thetemperature within the compartment l2 and automatically controls theoperation of the valve 21 so as to maintain the said compartment at apredetermined temperature.

A pressure reducing valve 29 is provided in the return conduit 3| forthe coil I8 so as to maintain a predetermined temperature inthe upper 16compartment of the cabinet for cooling the liquids that are to bedispensed by the valves I30 and I40 and also for cooling the jarscontaining the flavoring or other syrups.

The return conduit 32 for the refrigerating coil 23 is connected to thesuction conduit 33 which conveys the gaseous refrigerant back to thecompressor. A return conduit 34 conveys the refrigerant from the valve23 back to the suction conduit 33.

The conduit 34 is in conm'iunication with the low pressure refrigeratingcoil 23. The gas escaping from the valve 23 into the pipe 34 is ofhigher pressure than the low pressure, low temperature gas within thecoil 23 and hence it will expand into-the refrigerating coil 23 whichwill function as a surge tank.

The coils l9, 2| and 22 when assembled as shown in Fig. 3 form a coolingunit that may be installed in a cooling system as a single unit or maybe removed therefrom as a unit, as occasion may require. The ends of theconduits of the coils I9, 2| and 22 are provided at their ends withsuitable connectors 4|,.42 and 43, respectively, whereby the connectionsmay be easily and read- 40 ily made.

While the drawing discloses two compartments that are cooled andmaintained at difierent temperatures by the use of a singlerefrigerating apparatus, it is understood that additional expansioncoils for cooling additional compartments may be employed if desired, orif preferred the arrangement shown in Fig. 3 may be used alone forcooling purposes.

It is thought from the foregoing, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing, that the construction and operation of my devicewill be apparent to those skilled in the art and that changes in size,shape, proportion and details of construction may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a cooling cabinet, a cooling syrup jar compartment, a plurality ofsyrup jars extending into said compartment, a plurality of draft membersmounted on said cabinet above said compartment, a-plurality of conduits-connected one to each of said draft members, said conduits havingtheir'intermediate portions helically wound in multiple to form togethera single closely wound elongated cooling member in the form of an opencylinder open at both ends with the turns in side by side relation witheach convolution interposed between and in heat exchange relation withtwo other convolutions substantially throughout the length of saidmember, exposed directly to the air within said compart- ,ment forcooling the interior of the latter for reducing the temperature of thecontents of said 76 Ja s.

2. In an apparatus for cooling a plurality of liquids, an externalrefrigerant coil wound helically in turns in heat exchange relationshipwith each other forming a cylinder of a single layer of convolutions,and an internal two coil system Wound helically in side by side heatexchange relationship with each other forming an internal cylinder, saidinternal cylinder being in heat exchange relationship with the outercylinder such that any two turns of the refrigerant coil are in contactwith at least one turn of one of the internal coils and with two turnsof the other internal coil.

3. A cooling unit for a beverage dispensing fountain comprising aplurality of cooling con duits for cooling 8. different liquid in eachconduit, said conduits having their intermediate portions wound inparallel convolutions side by side in the form of .a cylinder, each ofsaid convolutions except the end ones being between two convolutions ofa different conduit, an expansion coil of a single layer of convolutionswound around the convolutions of said cooling conduits, certain of theconvolutions of said expansion coil each being in thermal contact withat least the convolutions of two different cooling conduits.

4. A cooling unit for a beverage dispensing apparatus comprising aplurality of cooling conduits, one for each liquid to be cooled, saidconduits having their intermediate portions closely wound in side byside relation and in thermal contact with one anotherto form a tubularmember of a single layer of convolutions, the convolutions of saidconduits being so wound that any two convolutionsof any one conduit willbe separatedby a' convolution of another conduit, and a refrigerant coilin telescopic relation with said tubular member and in thermal contactwith each convolution thereof.

5. A cooling unit comprising a refrigerant conduit wound to form a.tubular member with the convolutions in thermal contact with oneanother, a plurality of cooling conduits in telescopic relation withsaid tubular member for cooling a different liquid in each conduit, saidcooling-conduits having their intermediate portions closely woundto forma tubular member, the intermediate convolutions of any one coolingconduit being in thermal contact at each side thereof with a convolutionof another cooling conduit and with at least one convolution of saidrefrigerant conduit.

6. A unit for cooling a plurality of liquids and for equalizing thetemperature thereof, comprising a conduit for a refrigerant and aplurality of I cooling conduits for conducting liquids through said unitfor cooling the same, a cooling conduit for each different liquid, eachof said cooling conduits having a portion in thermal contact with acooling conduit at opposite sides thereof, said portion being also inthermal contact with said refrigerant conduit whereby when the liquid inany cooling conduit is replaced by liquid at a higher temperature thetemperature of all the conduits will tend to equalize and lower thetemperature of the replacing liquid.

7. A device for equalizing the temperatures among a plurality of fluidswhen a temperature differential exists between any two of the saiddevice comprising a conduit for a heat conveying fluid wound helicallywith the convolutions there: of in thermal contact with one another, aplurality of conduits for separate fluids wound helically with theirconvolutions alternately in thermal contact with one another and nestedin thermal contact with the convolutions of the first mentioned conduit,said nesting and contact being such that two convolutions of the firstconduit are in thermal contact with at least three of the alternatelyarranged convolutions of said plurality of conduits.

l HERMAN K. JOHNSON.

